by A killer with a Nazi face tattoo who brutally killed two women was sentenced to death on Tuesday.
Wade Wilson, 30, appeared motionless in the courtroom in Lee County, Florida as the sentence was read to cheers and applause from people in the gallery. Wilson refused to appear in court earlier this afternoon.
In June, Wilson was convicted of two counts of first-degree felony murder and two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43. He killed the women within hours of each other in October . 6, 2019 in Cape Coral.
The jury voted in favor of the death penalty 9-3 in Melton’s case, and 10-2 in Ruiz’s murder. In Florida, only eight out of 12 jurors need to recommend the death penalty for a judge to consider it.
The jury also had to prove the crimes related to aggravating factors. In this case, the panel found that the crimes were heinous, horrific, or cruel; committed by a person convicted of another felony and previously convicted of a felony while in prison.
During a motion hearing Tuesday morning, Wilson’s attorney, Lee Hollander, asked the court to impose two life sentences instead of the death penalty.
Hollander asked County Circuit Judge Nicholas R Thompson to consider whether his client had the capacity to understand the criminal nature of the behavior or whether he was substantially impaired when the crimes occurred.
“We would ask the court to take into account that death is permanent,” said Hollander, with whom Assistant State’s Attorney Andreas Gardiner agreed.
“Mr. Wilson’s decisions were not only deplorable and unconscionable, but they tragically reduced Ms. Melton, and Ms. Ruiz, to nothing more than memories and photographs,” Gardiner said. , during the hearing of the motion.
Prosecutors said Wilson met Melton at a live music bar before she was found dead at her home in Cape Coral, where her body was found.
Wilson left the residence and found Ruiz walking along a Cape Coral street. He went to her in a car he stole from Melton’s house. Wilson asked Ruiz for directions and got into the car. When the woman tried to get out of the vehicle, Wilson choked her and “ran her over until she looked like spaghetti,” the court heard. The two women did not know each other.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence of the multiple injuries suffered by the women. Melton suffered bruising on her face and body, hemorrhages on her neck and contusions to the lungs, liver, bladder and colon, among others. Some of Ruiz’s injuries included a broken nose bone, lacerations to her left breast, bruises on both sides of her body and multiple rib fractures.
Judge Thompson had the final say on whether the defendant was sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. In order to impose a death sentence, he had to consider all the aggravating factors found by the jury and all the mitigating circumstances.
“Given the facts of the case, nothing in the defendant’s background or mental state would indicate that a death sentence is inappropriate,” Thompson said before Wilson was sentenced to death.
Before the sentencing hearing, three women sent letters to Judge Thompson pleading with him to spare Wilson’s life. They cited the killer’s history of mental health issues, substance abuse and an alleged lack of parental support.
“In the case of Wade Wilson, it appears to be clearly documented that Mr. Wilson suffers from mental health issues that appear to be greatly exacerbated by drug use,” wrote Lindsay Brann, a mother of two boys in Alberta, Canada, in a. letter, Lee County Circuit Court records show.
During legal proceedings, Wilson’s adoptive parents submitted a letter saying he was a “joyful child” and “loved by his parents”. They claimed Wilson was delusional after developing a drug addiction. An expert witness claimed that Wilson had taken drugs the night before the murders.
Sara Miller, assistant state’s attorney, said Wilson was hospitalized while in jail for a fentanyl overdose.
During the motion hearing, Dr. Thomas Coyne, a neuropathologist and associate medical examiner, provided expert testimony stating that he found no damage to Wilson’s skull or brain, which could be a mitigating factor and the punishment of the considering death.
Dr. Mark Rubino, a neurologist, disagreed with that assessment. He said he found evidence of cognitive and emotional dysfunction in Wilson, causing worsening behavior and less thinking, as well as brain injury. The murders were likely the result of a combination of Wilson’s brain injuries and the drugs he was on at the time, Rubino added.
